State and Local Government Law Commons^™

Corporate Governance And Compelled Speech: Do State-Imposed Board Diversity Mandates Violate Free Speech?, Salar Ghahramani

DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Real Persons Are The Corporations We Made Along The Way, Leonard Brahin

DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Digital Barter Taxes Are Good Tax Policy, Young Ran (Christine) Kim, Darien Shanske

Faculty Articles

This short essay, aimed at state legislators, argues that digital barter taxes are good tax policy.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words: The Supreme Court Of Georgia Textualizes “Action” In The Georgia Constitution, Abigail C. Letts

Mercer Law Review

It comes as no surprise to those tuned into Georgia jurisprudence—textualism has taken root in the Supreme Court of Georgia. Since a series of holdings in the late twenty-tens including Olevik v. State, Georgia courts have produced a steady stream of decisions committed to pointing legal interpretation back to the intent of the framers. At first glance, the court’s proclamation in State v. SASS Group, LLC that “action” as it is used in Article I, Section II, Paragraph V(b) of the Georgia Constitution refers to an entire lawsuit appears simply to be another instance of the court’s staunch commitment …

State Constitutional Prohibitions Of Slavery And Involuntary Servitude, Michael L. Smith

Washington Law Review

In recent years, the Thirteenth Amendment has drawn sustained criticism for its “Punishment Clause,” which exempts those duly convicted of criminal offenses from the Amendment’s prohibition of slavery and involuntary servitude. Citing the Punishment Clause, courts have struck down challenges by those sentenced to forced labor, arguing that such involuntary servitude is explicitly permitted for those convicted of crimes. Recent criticism draws on concerns over mass incarceration and expansive forced labor practices—urging that the Thirteenth Amendment be revised to remove the Punishment Clause.

Prompted by increased attention to and criticism of the Punishment Clause, some states have taken matters into …

Critical Race Theory Bans And The Changing Canon: Cultural Appropriation In Narrative, Susan Ayres

Faculty Scholarship

Thirty-five states have enacted critical race theory bans at the level of elementary and secondary public education, and seven states have extended these to the university level. One way to resist these attempts to repress a healthy democracy by whitewashing history is through a pedagogy of antiracism, including literary works. The question of what that would look like involves questions of cultural appropriation, which occurs when one takes from another culture, such as a writer creating a narrative about a character outside of the writer’s cultural identity. This Article considers the story of Ota Benga, brought from the Congo to …

Abortion, Citizenship, And The Right To Travel, Rebecca E. Zietlow

Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal

This article considers the changed landscape for abortion rights since the United States Supreme Court’s opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. Before Dobbs, the right to choose an abortion was a fundamental right under federal law, enforceable against all state governments. After Dobbs, the scope of one’s right to choose an abortion depends on the state in which one lives, and if abortion is illegal in their home state, their right to travel to another state where abortion is legal. The right to travel is particularly important for workers who must live in an anti-abortion state because their …

Leading The Way: The Ninth Circuit Orders Reconsideration Of Lead-Based Paint Hazard Regulations In A Community Voice V. Environmental Protection Agency, Bae-Corine Schulz

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Mysterious Case Of The Attacks Against The Halifax Public Gardens: The Enclosure Of "Common" Property , Public Access To Nature, And Sustainability In The City, Dr. Sara Gwendolyn Ross

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Conservation Co-Governance As A Cure: Investigating Aotearoa New Zealand's Conservation Co-Governance Model As A Blueprint For Restoring Navajo Sovereignty In Managing Canyon De Chelly, Shana R. Herman

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Where's The Beef? The Fifth Circuit's Attempt To Clarify Plant-Based Food Labeling Laws In Turtle Island Foods S.P.C. V. Strain, Andrew J. Kash

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Interpretation And Zombie Provisions, Michael L. Smith

Georgia State University Law Review

This Article analyzes the presence of zombie provisions in the United States Constitution and state constitutions and the danger that these provisions may influence the interpretation of still-living constitutional provisions.

The Georgian Case For Harmless Constitutional Error Reform, John Evan Laughter

Georgia State University Law Review

This Note examines Georgia’s application of harmless error review to constitutional errors and proposes a new standard to remedy deficiencies.

To Essa And Beyond: Arc Of Education Policy Bends Toward Local Authorities & Holistic Approaches, Adam Tanielian

St. Mary's Law Journal

This Article presents a mixed-methods, interdisciplinary study on educational policy and practice to offer solutions to fossilized problems extant across the United States’ elementary and secondary schools. Analysis of historic Supreme Court decisions and statutes unveil compelling trends that have shaped the legal landscape over the latter half of the twentieth century. Linguistic comparisons of two milestone revisions of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act—No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)—show Congress granted more flexibility and authority to local districts and states under ESSA, which reflected trends in Supreme Court opinions over several decades.

A …

The Good, The Bad, And The Gentrified: How The Historical Misuse And Future Potential Of Zoning Laws Impact Urban Development, Megan Vangilder

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

A De-Regulated Militia: The Diminished Training Requirements For Ohio Teachers To Carry Weapons In Schools, Richard Sharp

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Toothless Tcpa: An Analysis Of Article Iii Standing, Personal Jurisdiction, And The Disjuncture Problem’S Impact On The Efficacy Of The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, Sebastian W. Johnson

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Parental Rights Or Political Ploys? Unraveling The Deceptive Threads Of Modern “Parental Rights” Legislation, Cecilia Giles

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Addressing Mental Disability Head On: The Challenges Of Reasonable Accommodation Requests For Virginia Housing Providers, Haley Fortner

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

A person’s home should be a sanctuary of safety, security, and comfortability away from the demands of the outside world. Yet for many people living with mental illness, a home can all too easily become a sort of temporary prison. Nowhere is this more apparent than when a housing provider stands in the way of allowing someone with a mental disability the equal opportunity to use and enjoy their home. Fair housing law’s reasonable accommodation requirement works to ensure those living with mental illness receive the accommodations they need in order to live safely and comfortably in their own home. …

The Vagueness Of The Independent State Legislature Doctrine, Jason Marisam

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

The Independent State Legislature (ISL) Theory has been one of the hottest topics in election law, with conservative thinkers championing a strong version of the theory. In Moore v. Harper, the Supreme Court had the opportunity to turn this controversial theory into actual doctrine. The Court, though, declined to adopt a maximalist version of the theory and declined to reject it outright. Instead, it offered a vague standard that gives close to zero guidance as to where, between these two poles, the doctrine sits. Several scholars and commentators have responded to the opinion with a mix of relief, because the …

Rethinking Jurisdictional Maximalism In The Wake Of Mallory, Sayer Paige

Fordham Law Review

Jurisdiction-by-registration is the idea that by virtue of registering to do business in a state, corporations prospectively consent to jurisdiction on claims made against them in that state. For decades, this concept has stagnated behind the minimum contacts analysis developed by International Shoe Co. v. Washington and its progeny. Among other reasons, plaintiffs and states were not sure whether jurisdiction-by-registration withstood the Due Process Clause. But as the U.S. Supreme Court continued to narrow the limits of contacts-based jurisdiction, plaintiffs returned to registration based jurisdiction to recapture corporate defendants. Courts largely rejected these assertions. Then, in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern …

First Amendment Defenses To Alien Transportation Crimes, Charquia Wright

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Florida law now prohibits the transportation of undocumented aliens into the state. Briefings characterize these laws as unconstitutionally preempting federal immigration law and federal due process rights. Despite this emphasis on due process, field, and conflict preemption unconstitutionality, few have addressed the First Amendment implications of human smuggling prosecutions of natural and some corporate persons. The Supreme Court’s Free Exercise precedent protects the religious freedoms of natural persons and some corporations. Under state alien transportation laws, these freedoms cease to exist. Because the Supreme Court has extended these religious protections to some corporations, they too are entitled to First Amendment …

Governance And Islam In East Africa: Muslims And The State In Kenya And Tanzania, Farouk Topan, Kai Kresse, Erin E. Stiles, Hassan Mwakimako

Exploring Muslim Contexts

Explores the relationship between Muslim communities and the State in East Africa in political, institutional and legal contexts

• Focuses on the relationship between Muslims and the State in Kenya and Tanzania
• Asks which factors, both within and outside the Muslim community, shape and affect this relationship in contemporary times
• Presents 13 case studies exploring governance issues within and across the categories of politics, institutions and law in Kenya and Tanzania
• Identifies cross-cutting issues of governance and Muslim communities which are relevant beyond East Africa

Recent studies of Muslims in Kenya and Tanzania have tended either to examine governance of Muslims …

The Use Of Procedural Rules To Silence Minority Party Dissent In The Tennessee State Legislature And Its Racially Discriminatory Roots, Rosie Fatt

Journal of Law and Policy

The expulsion of two young Black legislators, Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson, from the Tennessee General Assembly in April 2023 was not an aberration. This Note argues that the expulsions follow a historical pattern of systematic marginalization of Black representative power in the South. This Note connects the history of minority exclusion in state legislatures, beginning with Black legislators barred from taking their elected seats in the Georgia House, through to the present day. Specifically, it focuses on the use of procedural rules, particularly expulsions, as tools to limit the speech and representative power of Black legislators. It discusses …

Interpretive Divergence In The New York Court Of Appeals, Ethan J. Leib

Journal of Legislation

This Article focuses attention on the New York Court of Appeals, which is decidedly formalist about contract interpretation but decidedly contextualist about statutory interpretation. It explores some recent exemplary cases to show where the New York Court of Appeals tends to land in what turns out to be, for this court at least, two different battlefields in the law of interpretation. Finding that there is “interpretive divergence” between statutory and contract cases, the Article then reflects on the practice of divergence more generally, revisiting assumptions about why anyone might have thought harmonization was sensible in the first place.

How To Limit The Downstream Costs Of Racially Restrictive Covenants, Randall K. Johnson

Faculty Works

This essay, which is part of the University of Kansas Law Review Symposium on the seventy-fifth (75th) anniversary of Shelley v. Kraemer, is the first to explain how a current successor in interest to a racially restrictive covenant may limit more of their own downstream costs through the use of self-help options. By definition, a downstream cost is any expense that arises after the formation, and in the course of performance, of a valid common law contract. Examples of downstream costs include the time, money and energy that property owners may expend in removing racially restrictive covenants.

The essay does …

The Perennial Eclipse: Race, Immigration, And How Latinx Count In American Politics, Rachel F. Moran

Faculty Scholarship

In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Evenwel v. Abbott, a case challenging the use of total population in state legislative apportionment as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. The plaintiffs sued Texas, alleging that the State impermissibly diluted their voting power because they lived in areas with a high proportion of voting-age citizens. When total population was used to draw district lines, the plaintiffs had to compete with more voters to get their desired electoral outcomes than was true for voters in districts with low proportions of voting-age citizens. The Court rejected the argument, finding that states enjoy …

The Private Litigation Impact Of New York’S Green Amendment, Evan Bianchi, Sean Di Luccio, Martin Lockman, Vincent Nolette

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

The increasing urgency of climate change, combined with federal environmental inaction under the Trump Administration, inspired a wave of environmental action at the state and local level. Building on the environmental movement of the 1970s, activists have pushed to amend more than a dozen state constitutions to include “green amendments” — self-executing individual rights to a clean environment. In 2022, New York activists succeeded, and New York’s Green Amendment (the NYGA) now provides that “Each person shall have a right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.”

However, the power of the NYGA and similar green amendments turns …

Section 898: Targeting The Companies Behind Gun Violence In New York With Public Nuisance Doctrine, Mara Kravitz

William & Mary Law Review

On July 6, 2021, the New York State Legislature enacted sections 898-a to -e of the New York General Business Law (section 898), creating a clear path for public entities and private gun violence victims to sue gun industry members for their role in the gun violence public nuisance in New York. This Note explores why the legislature took a public nuisance approach to curbing gun violence, framing section 898 within public nuisance doctrine’s broader common law history and legal elements.

To unpack how and why New York took this approach, the first Part of this Note traces the history …